Нажех Дэвенпорт: Американ футболшысының өмірі мен мансабы

American football player (born 1979)

Najeh Trenadious Monté Davenport (born February 8, 1979) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League. He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes and was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the fourth round of the 2002 NFL draft. In addition to the Packers, Davenport played in the NFL for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts.

Davenport attended the University of Miami, where he played primarily as a halfback. Chosen as the offensive captain, he won an NCAA Division I A national football championship as a member of the Hurricanes in 2001. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in theatre with a minor in education at the University of Miami. He was chosen by the Packers in the fourth round of the 2002 NFL draft with the 135th overall pick.

During his NFL career, Davenport struggled with fumbles and with injuries that kept him off the playing field. Davenport's abilities exceed a fourth round selection, but as many scouts predicted, Davenport was plagued by injuries throughout his career. In his rookie campaign, he rushed for a respectable 4.7 yards per carry average before fracturing his left eye socket. In 2003, injuries were minimal and he rushed for 5.45 yards per carry, good for the second highest in the NFL, and 30.1 yards per kick return. However, in the 2004 season, Davenport started the season with a lingering hamstring injury that kept him out for a month. On November 29, 2004, Davenport, in his first NFL start, rushed for 178 yards, third highest debut start yardage in the NFL for the past 20 years. Later that year, Davenport broke his ribs, resulting in playing at far less than 100 percent. In 2005, after starting running back Ahman Green went down with a quadriceps injury, Davenport took over as starter. In what would be his only start of the season, versus the New Orleans Saints, Davenport scored two first half touchdowns before breaking his ankle. He was subsequently placed on injured reserve, effectively ending his season.

Davenport was released by the Packers on September 2, 2006, when the team made their final roster cuts. Six days later, on September 8, 2006, however, Davenport was signed to the roster of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He finished the 2006 season with a total of 221 rushing yards. After the Steelers signed veteran running back Kevan Barlow, Davenport was facing competition with Barlow for the second and third string positions. However, Barlow was cut during training camp, and Davenport assumed the second string responsibilities for Pittsburgh's opener against Cleveland. Davenport rushed for 43 yards on eight carries in the Steelers' 34–7 win. Arguably his best game with the Steelers came on Thursday, December 20, 2007, against the St. Louis Rams. Davenport had 24 carries for 123 yards and a touchdown, as well as two catches for 44 yards and another touchdown. Davenport came into the game to relieve Willie Parker, who broke his fibula in the first quarter. The Steelers released Davenport on June 28, 2008. He was re signed on September 30 following injuries to Willie Parker, Rashard Mendenhall and Carey Davis. The Steelers released him again on November 8, only to re sign him on November 27 due to the injury to Parker. Davenport was released once more on December 2.

Davenport was signed by the Indianapolis Colts on December 9, 2008. In two games with the Colts, he had eight rushes for 26 yards and caught four passes for 54 yards. He was released on January 3, 2009, after the team elevated offensive tackle Michael Toudouze from the practice squad.

Davenport was charged in Cleveland with domestic violence, endangering, and unlawful restraint in an October 2007 incident involving the mother of his five year old son. He entered a plea of not guilty days later and the case went to trial on April 4, 2008. After a four day trial, an eight member jury spent three and a half hours deliberating before finding Davenport not guilty of all counts.

On October 25, 2020, Davenport and another ex NFL player, Kevin Henry (cousin of professional wrestling great Mark Henry and coincidentally also an ex Steeler), filed a lawsuit against the NFL stating the NFL used "race norming" as a factor to determine neurocognitive impairment as part of the NFL's Concussion Settlement. The complaint stated that Black players' neurocognitive impairment score was adjusted by making an assumption that Black players started with a lower cognitive ability than a non Black player. This adjustment made it more difficult for Black players to prove cognitive decline compared to non Black players. On October 21, 2021, the NFL and lawyers for thousands of retired NFL players reached an agreement to end race based adjustments in cognitive testing related to the NFL's Concussion Settlement.